I always liked Maths at school. It was a subject that was not subject to opinion and if you could do the basics then you could build on that to do almost anyting. Unlike art where a big blob painted on was boring and lacked imagination but a blob put on a canvas by your bottom shows imagination and a new outlook on life. Life was good and understandable and the basic maths I was taught has lasted me well and even now after all these years 1 + 1 = 2. Bliss. I’m still up to date….. or am I?
Along comes modern mathematics, and like physics, it starts looking outside the real world and suddenly they turn everything on its head. They go all 11th dimension on me and now they are not so sure 1 + 1 = 2 and long known truths are now considered invalid. Who the hell has ever worked outside our normal 4 dimensions where 1 + 1 = 2? Do we ever think we will need to work in the 8th dimension? Where exactly are these dimensions anyway? How relevant is it to the real world really?
This is the problem nowadays. Everything that was so simple now seems so complicated in a theoretical way, a way that will never be of interest in the real world. Yet my real world practical understanding of everything is being mauled by theoretical constructs which 99.999% of the population don’t understand and 99.9999% of the world have no real practical use for.
I only hope it leads to a warp drive or something. In the meantime I’m sticking to my 1 + 1 = 2 and thats what I’ll be using in all my real world stuff.
I think that is the problem with too many branches of science and engineering today – they have to have a theory first before they can do anything.
When I studied engineering at university – a looong time ago – we were given the ‘engineers maxim’ – it works therefore it can be used, the theory can come later. That has now been turned on its head and the theory has to came first. What is wrong with having an idea and trying it out, then if it doesn’t work make modifications and try again. At some stage it will either work or the understanding that it will never work will happen. The Victorian inventors worked that way, why not now?
Ivan,
I think the problem is that now we have all these graduates with maths and physics that are soley theoretical. They spend a lot more time on theory than they used to.
Engineering though still seems to be biased towards building and making prototypes so its still No. 1 in my view. Engineers like to play.
Ivan – the problem is that many of the models used by Engineers don’t actually work, but they appear to do so. This has resulted in some unfortunate events at thesis defenses.
Lord T – My field is mathematics, both ‘pure’ and applied. The typical user (including me) does not have to worry about the uses to which we put arithmetic.
Life was good and understandable …
They’re right bastards complicating it as old age draws nigh, aren’t they?
Timothy,
What do you mean by that? Does it mean you actually treat arithmetic as pure mathematics and this 11th dimensional theory stuff as applied?
James,
I think we will make it.